Cigar-machine.



No. 639,663. Patented Dec. I9, I899.

' T. E. CARPENTER.

CIGAR MACHINE.

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MTNESES/ Q N0. 639,663. Patented Dec. l9, I899.

' T. E. CARPENTER.

CIGAR MACHINE.

[Application filed June 8, 1898.! (No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT tries.

THOMAS E. CARPENTER, OF PROVIDENCE, Rl-IODE ISLAND;

CIGAR-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N6. 639,663, dated December 19, 189 9.

Application filed June 8, 1898. Serial No. 682,944. (No model.)

I To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. CARPENTER, of the city and county of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, haveinvent'ed a certain new and useful Improvement in Cigar-Machines; and I declare the following to be a specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Like numerals indicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a top plan of my improved cigar -1nachine. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 3 shows in side elevation a cigar which is the product of my said machine. Fig. 4 is a view of said machine as seen on line AA of Fig. 1 and is partly in elevation and partly in section on said line. In this figure the clutching mechanism is disengaged. Fig. 5 is the same as the righthand end of Fig. 4, except that the clutching mechanism is here seen in engagement. Fig. 6 is an end elevation of said machine as seen on line B B of Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is an end ele vation of mechanism for laterally moving the upper roll of said machine and is drawn as seen on line C O of Fig. 4. Fig. 8 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, as seen on line D D of Fig. 4, in the direction of the arrows there. Fig. 9 is a view, partly in top plan and partly in horizontal section, as seen. on line E E of Fig. 6. Fig. 10 is an enlarged longitudinal view of the two portions of the upper roller, the same being in central longitudinal sectiomand illustrates the balland-socket connection between said parts, together with the means for supporting the outer end of said roller. Fig. 11 is a view of said portions of the roller, partly in elevation and partly in cross-section, on line F F of Fig. 10, together with the ball portion of the connecting-piece. Fig. -12 shows the two parts of said roller and their ball-and-socket connection as seen in central longitudinal section when said parts of the roller have rotated one hundred and eighty degrees from the position shown in Fig. 10. Fig. 13 is a view of said portions of the roller, partly in elevation and partly in section, on line G G of Fig. 12, together with the ball portion of the connecting-piece. Fig. 14 is a top plan of said ball portion and the screw-threaded stem thereof.

My invention is a machine designed for the manufacture of cigars; and it consists of the novel construction and combination of the several elements hereinafter particularly described, and specifically set out in the claims:

The moving parts are supportedby two standards 1 and 2, whose lower portions spread apart angularly to form legs 3, 4, 5,

and 6. tween said legs from side to side.

Two cross-rods 7 and 8 extend be- These cross-rods at one end thereof, respectively,

are reduced in diameter and made with a shoulder, and thus are engaged into corresponding holes or openings in the legs 5 and 6 of the standard 2. Said cross-rods 7 and S'pass loosely through holes or openings made "for their reception in the legs 3 and 4 of the through the support 14 and by means of a screw-thread on. its inner end engages with the standard 1 in a screw-threaded hole thereof, as shown in Fig. 4.

A sleeve or tube 16 surrounds the spindle 15, Figs. 4 and 5, and is rotatable thereon. On said sleeve or tube' is the spiral spring 17. A pulley 18 is rotatably mounted on the sleeve 16 and has a peripheral groove in which the driving-belt 19 is received to communicate motion thereto from a source of power. The hub 20 of the pulley 18 has two diametricallyarranged slots 21, Figs. 1 and 2, on its inner face, and one end of the spiral spring 17 bears against said face of the hub.

A lever 22 is pivotally and quite loosely mounted on a stud or pin 23, which has a slotted head 24 and is partially screw-threaded to engage said cross piece 9 and a check-nut 25, Fig. 5, on the. rear of the cross-piece 9,

Figs. 4, 5, and 6. Said-lever 22 extends down below the table or bench 12, so that it can be operated by the knee of the attendant I in the direction indicated by=the arrow 26 i -rotation.

Fig. 4. The upper end of the lever 22 is bifurcated and incloses the sleeve 16 of the spindle 15.

The sleeve or tube 16 has integral therewith a clutch 27 and a gear 28, all revolving on the spindle 15. The gear 28 engages with the three gears 29, 30, and 31, so that said three gears revolve in the same direction, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 8. The gears 29, 30, and 31 are fastened on and revolve the rollers 32, 33, and 34, respectively. Each of these rollers is shouldered and has an arbor, by means of which the roller is supported in a bearing in the standard 1. Each arbor is at its end reduced in diameter and centrally and longitudinally tapped, as seen in Figs. 4 and 9. Each of the gears 29, 30, and 31 is secured in place upon the end of its proper roller by means of a screw, which screw has eithera washer between its head and the end of the arbor or, if preferred, may have its head provided with an integral flange to bear against the face of the gear and the end of the arbor.

The roller 34 has a circumferential groove 35, and the arbor of said roller passes through a curved and elongated slot 36 in the standard 1, the lower end of which slot furnishes a bea ring for said arbor when the roller 34 is in the position shown in Figs. 6, 8, l, 2, and 4. The rollers 32 and 33 have their respective arbors supported in holes or hearings in the standard 1 of a diameter corresponding to said arbors, so as to allow revolution, but to maintain said rollers, respectively, in the same axial line of As these three rollers have their bearin gs only at one end thereof, the standard 1 is made of considerable thickness to provide a sufficiently strong and rigid support.

A handle or lever 36 has its lower end enlarged and bifurcated, as seen in Fig. 7, to embrace the roller 34 in the circumferential groove 35 thereof. Said handle or leverisfulcrumed on the screw 37,which enters the stand ard 1,as shown. The screw 37 should be placed at a point in a line somewhat forward of the plane of the axial line of said roller 34, and by the eccentric position of said fulcrum with respect to the center of curvature of the slot 36 of the handle said handle serves as a locking device to confine said roller 34 to the forward (lower) end of the elongated slot 36 in the standard 1 in a fixed,longitudinal,or axial line of rotation, thus bringing the teeth of the gears 28 and 31 into engagement, crowding and seating the roller 34 into the lowest portion of the slot 36 and moving the center of the bifurcation or yoke into exact vertical line with the center of the gear 28.

The rollers 32, 33, and 34 all rotate in the same direction, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 8. The direction of the travel of the belt 19 is indicated in Fig. 6 by the arrow, and it will be seen that the gear 28 when in clutch with the pulley 18 rotates in the same direction therewith, and as said gear 28 drives all the gears 29, 30, and 31, and said three lastmentioned gears, as seen from the end of the machine shown in Fig. 6 all move in the direction of the forward movement of the hands of a clock, (see Fig. 8,) and said gears 29, 30, and 31 rotate, respectively, the rollers 32, 33, and 34 in the same direction therewith it is apparent that the lower teeth of the rotating gear 31 of the roller 34, and also the upper teeth of the rotating gear-28, tend to force the axis or spindle of the roller 34 forward into snug contact with the inner end of the slot 36, and this, with the eccentric position of the fulcrum or pivot 37 of the handle 36, as already specified, and the bifurcation of the lower end of said handle gives the roller 34 a sufficient support in the slot 36.

As shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8, the rollers 32 and 33 are mounted in the same horizontal plane, which plane is parallel with that of the table 52. The roller 34 when in operative position, as in Figs. 6 and 8, is in a horizontal plane above and parallel to the plane of the rollers 32 and 33 and also in a vertical plane midway between the vertical planes of the rollers 32 and 34,and the position of the fulcrum or pivot 37 of the handle 36 is forward of the vertical plane of said roller 34. The result is that the handle 36 when in the position shown in Fig. 6 constitutes a locking means (when the roller 34 is rotating in the direction indicated in Fig. 8) and in combination with the inner edge of the yoke or bifurcation of the lower end of the handle 36, Figs. 6 and 7, prevents any rearward movement of the roller 34 while in operation.

A steel rod 38 extends from the handle 36, and at the outer end it has the rigid bent finger 39 fastened in position by nuts.

Each roller 32, 33, and 34 is longitudinally curved and fluted, as illustrated in the several figures, and each has connected with it at its outer end a conical roller, as indicated at 40, 41, and 42, respectively, extending in an angular direction. Each of these conical rollers is concaved on its peripheral surface and longitudinally fluted. It also hasacentral longitudinal bore 43, which at and near the larger end of the cone is screw-threaded and at and near the smaller end of the cone is enlarged or cupped, as seen at 44. Each of the conical rollers is provided with a connecting-piece, (shown separately in Fig. 14, where it is seen to have a spherical head 45, with a screw-threaded stem 46 extending therefrom on one side.) An elongated channel or groove 47, semicircular in cross-section, extends along a portion of the surface of the sphere or ball in the plane of the stem 46, and the bottom of said channel or groove has its central longitudinal line parallel throughout its extent with the edges of said channel or groove.

Each of the rollers 32, 33, and 34 is shouldered near its outer end and reduced in diameter and is there screw-threaded. This reduced portion of the roller constitutes an arbor or hearing, whose end is hollowed out semispherically to form a socket to receive the spherical head 45 of the con nection-piece, Fig. 14. Said socket is grooved or channeled, as shown in Figs. 10 and 12, in a direction longitudinal of the roller. A cap 48,with an interior screw-thread, fits upon the arbor or bearing of the roller, as shown most plainly in Figs. 10 and 12, the flange of said cap being centrally perforated by a circular aperture of less diameter than the diameter of the ball 45. The edge of said aperture of the cap, as shown in Figs. 10 and 12, serves as a lip to close-the outerend of the groove or channel of the socket and so prevents the ballspline from rolling out. The rollers are connected as follows: The cap 48 being removed, the ball portion 45 of the connecting-piece, Fig. 14, is inserted in the socket of the larger roller. A ball49, serving as a movable spline, is inserted in the channel or groove 47 of the ball 45 and into the corresponding channel or groove of the said socket. The cap 48 is then screwed upon the arbor of the roller, as shown.

- The conical or smaller roller is then screwed upon the stem 46 of said connection-piece, the parts then having been assembled, as fully illustrated in Fig. 12. The roller 42 is then engaged by its bore with the bent-up finger 39, which has a rounded end to enter the cupped portion of said bore. The rollers 40 and 41 are mounted at their outer or smaller ends in the cupped portion of the bores thereof upon the rounded projections 49, respectively, of the bracket 50,which by its bearin g passes through the standard 2 and is held in position by the nut 51. The caps 48 are fluted continuously with the fiutings of the rollers on which they are fastened. A table 52 is screwed at 53 to the standards 1 and 2'in a plane substantially coincident with that of the projections 49 of the bracket 50, thus leaving a space above the table for the insertion of the cigar leaf wrapper beneath the smaller end of the conical roller 42.

Having thus explained the parts of my said improved cigar-machine, I will now explain its operation.

The filling of tobacco which constitutes the body of the cigar is placed by the operator in his hands in parallel strips lengthwise and slightly rolled or pinched together to give it sufficient coherence. The handle or lever 36 is moved from the position shown in Fig. 6 (which position is also shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7) in the direction indicated by the arrowin Fig. 6. At the conclusion of this movement the lever or handle 36 is in the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 7. As a result the roller 34 is moved from the position indicated in Fig. 7 by the two concentric circles in dotted lines to the position shown in said figure in solid lines. This movement is possible, because the arbor of the roller 34 is carried by the lever or handle from the lower end of the slot 36 in the standard 1. The upper roller 34 is thus lifted or,

,in Fig. 8.

swung away from its former contiguity to the rollers 32 and 33, and a clear space or opening is so provided into which the bunch of filling-tobacco prepared as aforesaid is laid and pushed by hand along the table 52 longitudinally between and upon the rollers 32 33, Fig. 9. The handle or lever 36 is then moved in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 7 back to the position shown in Fig. 6, and the cigaris then in place to be operated upon, as indicated in Fig. 8 at 54. The lever 22 is then moved in the direction indicated by the arrow 26 in Fig. 4, therebybringing the clutch 21 of the hub 20 of the pulley 18 into engagement with the clutch 27 and compressing the spiral spring 17. The pulley 18 is rotated by the driving belt 19, and when the clutch members 21 27 are engaged, as just stated, said pulley revolves the gear 28, which revolves the three gears 29, 30, and 31. Said three gears revolve in the same direction and turn the rollers to which they are respectively fastened. The direction of the rotation of said three rollers is indicated by the arrows The rollers, being longitudinally corrugated or fluted, impart by their rotation the proper curve and shape to the tobacco filler 54 between them. Each roller 32, 33, or 34 in turning imparts its rotary motion to its connected conical roller. In Figs. 10 and 12 the position of these rollers with respect to each other is shown at the upper and lower extremes of the movement of the ball-and-socket connection. The ball 49, in serted in the groove or channel 47 of the spherical head 45, extends also into the corresponding groove or channel of the socket in the end of the arbor of the longer roller, and thus acts as a spline whereby the rotary movement of the longer roller, which is turned by its gear at one end, is communicated to the conical roller at the opposite end, the ball 49 moving from end to end of said grooves, as illustrated in Figs. 10, 11, 12, and 13. The outer ends of the conical rollers are support ed upon the bent-up end of the finger 39 or on the projection 49 of the bracket 50, as the case may be; but the samecurvature of the two connected rollers on their operative sides is maintained, as seen in Figs. 10,12,1, 2, and 4. WVhen the tobacco filler has been properly shaped by the conjoint operation of the rollers 32 33 34 and the conical rollers 40, 41, and 42, the leaf wrapper cut in the required form and moistened as usual is pushed along the table 52 by the hand in a diagonal direction and is drawn by the rollers and wrapped over the filler from end to end, thus completing the cigar. The shape of the finished cigar is seen in Fig. 3, the form there shown being that,

known as the perfeotm butitis obvious that any other preferred form can be given to the cigar by modifying the curvature of the rollers. When the wrapper has been properly put in position, the cigar is moved from the machine by'moving the handle or lever 36 from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. 7, and the completed cigar is taken from the rollers by hand.

While the machine is not in operation, the normal action of the spiral spring 17 forces the pulleylS from the position shown in Fig. 5 to the position shown in Fig. 4, thus stopping the rotation of the gears and rollers.

I claim as a novel and useful invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a cigar-machine, the combination of main rollers rotatably mounted at one end thereof, respectively, in a proper support, and each having a hemispherical socket in its opposite end, which is grooved on one side in the plane of the axis of said main roller, means to rotate said roller, a companion conical roller for each of the main rollers, a ball extending from the larger end of each conical roller and adapted to enter said socket of the adjacent main roller and grooved in the plane of the axis of said conical roller, an arbor projecting axially from each of the main rollers at the socketed end thereof, a detachable tubular cap, mounted and fitting on each of said arbors and having a central circularaperture on the outer end thereof, of a diameter less than the diameter of said balls, respectively, means to secure said cap in position upon said main rollers, a ball-spline extending into and confined to one line of travel in said grooves of the balls and sockets, respectively, and a support for the outer smaller end of each of said conical rollers, arranged to maintain said conical roller in an angular direction relatively to its main roller, substantially as described.

2. In a cigar-machine, the combination of main rollers rotatably mounted at one end thereof, respectively, in a proper support, means to rotate said rollers, a companion conical roller for each of the main rollers, a ball extending from the larger end of each conical roller and grooved in the plane of its axis, a socket in the end of each main roller adapted to receive the ball of the companion conical roller and grooved on one side in the plane of the axis of said main roller, a ball-spline extending into and movable in said grooves of the balls and sockets,respectively,an external lip on the edge of each socket adapted to keep the ball-spline in the groove of said socket, and a support for the outer smaller end of each of said conical rollers, arranged to maintain said conical roller in an angular direction relati vely to its main roller, substantially as specified.

3. In a cigar-machine, the combination of arotatable longitudinally-fluted roller mounted at one end in a proper support, a screwthreaded arbor extending from the opposite end of said roller and having in its end a socket, which is made with an elongated slot, a conical roller having its outer end concave and its peripheral surface longitudinally fluted, a ball extending from said end of the conical roller and fitting movably in the socket of the first-named roller, and slotted as shown, a movable spline between said ball and socket adapted to communicate rotary motion from the first-named roller to the second, a support for the outer smaller end of the conical roller loosely engaging the same in a line angularly disposed to the axial line of the first-named roller, and a cap having its end centrally provided with a circular opening of less diameter than the said ball and made with an interiorly-th readed tubular portion engageable with said screw-threaded'arbor and also having on its edge longitudinal grooves continuous in direction and location with the flutings of said first-named roller, said cap and roller and companion conical roller being so adjusted that their grooves or fiutin gs are continuous with each other upon those sides thereof which are in operative contact with the cigar, substantially as specified.

4. Ill a cigar machine having a proper support, a pair of rotatable rollers mounted each at one end thereof in said support in the same plane and rotatable each in the fixed longi* tudinal line of its own axis and provided each with a socket at its end, an oscillating rotatable roller having a circumferential groove near one end and mounted at said end in an elongated aperture of said support in a plane parallel to the plane of the two rollers first aforesaid and movable to a plane which is at right angles with the first-named plane and midway between the axes of said pair of rollers, a companion conical roller for each of said three rollers aforesaid, each having a ball extending from its end which is adapted to enter the socket of its adjacent roller, a spline between said balls and sockets, respectively, arranged to communicate rotary mo tion from each main roller, respectively, to its companion conical roller, supports for the smaller outer ends of said conical rollers re spectively, adapted to maintain the conical rollers angularly with respect to said main rollers, respectively, a handle bifurcated at its lower end, adapted to enter the circumferential groove and engage therein said 0s cillating roller, a pivot passing through said handle into said support at a point in a line forward of the axial line of said oscillating roller, thereby constituting said handle an eccentric locking means to confine said oscillating roller to a fixed longitudinal or axial line of rotation when in operative posi- ICC outer end of each of said conical rollers, the combination of a rotatable main roller mounted at one end in an elongated slot in said standard, a handle adapted to move said main roller in said slot toand from the two main rollers first aforesaid, a companion conical roller for said movable main roller and connected therewith by a ball-and-socket joint, a rod extending from said handle and having a finger or hanger at its end arranged to support and guide .the outer end of the lastnamed conical roller, substantially as specified.

6. The improved cigar-machine herein described, consisting of the standards 1, 2, having spread legs at the bottom thereof and the cross rods or stays 7, 8, a cross-piece 9 upon the ends of said rods and having the upright support 14, the spindle from the support 14 to the standard 1, the gear 28 and clutch 27 having a sleeve or tube 16 upon the spindle 15, the spiral spring 17 on said spindle, the pulley 18 loose upon said spindle and having a hub 20 with clutch-slots 21, the lever 22 pivotally mounted upon the cross-piece 9 and havinga bifurcated end to embrace the tube 16 and-to lie against the hub 20 of said 1301-- ley, the elongated-slot bearing 36 in the standard 1, the rollers 32, 33 and 34 each having a channeled socket in its outer-end, said rollers 32 and 33 being mounted by arbors in holes-or bearings of corresponding size in the standard 1 and said roller 34 being mounted in said slot 36 and grooved circumferentially as at 35, the gears 29, and 31 upon the rollers 32, 33 and 34, respectively, the handle 36' pivotally mounted on the standard 1 and having a bifurcated end which engages the roller 34 in the groove 35 thereof, the rod 38 from said handle, the bent finger 39 at the end of the rod 38, the conical rollers 40, 41 and 42 extending at anangle from the rollers 32, 33 and 34, respectively, and each having a bore 43 therein and an enlargement 44 of said bore, a connection for each conical roller and its companion roller, consisting of a spherical grooved head 45, a threaded stem 46 engageable With said bore 43, a cap 48 fitting upon the end of each roller 32, 33 and 34 and provided with a central round aperture, a ball-spline 49 in the channels of the sockets and of the spherical heads 45, respectively, the bracket 50 from the standard 2 and having the projections 49 and the table 52 extending from the standards 1, 2, all arranged and operating as shown and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

THOMAS E. CARPENTER.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR P. JOHNSON, WARREN R. PERCE. 

